Let Catholic Charities Be Catholic

Father Thomas D. Williams writes at National Review Online that Catholic Charities should be allowed to be "Catholic" in pursuing their mission:

Much fuss is being made over Boston’s Catholic Charities’ refusal to place children with same-sex couples in its adoption services. The political agenda behind the garment-rending and name-calling should have more than Catholics up in arms.

Let me start by saying that I wouldn’t expect everyone to agree with the criteria employed by Catholic Charities in its selection process. After all, the Church attempts to find a home that provides not only material comfort, but also a morally and spiritually sound environment according to its own standards and perspective. A living arrangement that the Church considers to be objectively sinful doesn’t qualify as being in children’s best interests. But no one is required to make use of the Catholic agency, and plenty of other options exist for those who disagree.

What I would strenuously resist is an attempt to make Catholic Relief Services and any number of other religiously inspired or private agencies conform to a one-size-fits-all, state-imposed model of parental selection. The Christian Church has been looking after widows, orphans, and the destitute since long before the U.S. federal government came into existence. Why should a secular model trump other legitimate standards for adoption? Isn’t that, after all, why a variety of adoption agencies came into existence — to provide parents with options that correspond to their values and concerns? In what way does a de facto secular monopoly serve the common good better than a range of adoption alternatives?

Let’s cut through the rhetoric of “discrimination” that only clouds the issue. The simple fact is that all adoption agencies discriminate — that is the purpose of the evaluation of prospective parents. Candidates must run a gruelling gauntlet of tests, interviews, and questionnaires covering everything from their financial situation to their personal histories, education and criminal record. The commonwealth of Massachusetts applies any number of litmus tests to weed out unsuitable candidates. Let’s just take the example of financial discrimination. The poor may not adopt. In order to adopt, couples must not only demonstrate economic solvency, but wealth. I personally know of several loving, married, middle-class couples that have been denied adoption simply because their bank account wasn’t big enough. The question then becomes, not whether agencies should discriminate, but rather, on what grounds they should discriminate.

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